6/19/19
What is this Student Leadership Board I keep talking about? Why is GPhA so important to be involved in? What do students on the board do? The answers to all your burning questions, without further adieu.
The GPhA Student Leadership Board is something that my best friend, Alex Reaves, and I created during the Spring 2019 in an effort to give students an opportunity to get more involved in their state pharmacy association in Georgia. After attending Day at the Dome in February (2 days where student pharmacists from all 4 colleges of pharmacy in Georgia travel to the capitol in order to speak to their legislators and advocate for bills that will advance the pharmacy profession. This year it was HB233 and HB323 which were both passed!), Alex and I were inspired by the work that GPhA was doing in our state to advocate for the profession and sought out CEO Bob Coleman. We spoke with him briefly that morning, and set up a meeting to talk about our vision for student involvement.
Through connections I have made in APhA-ASP, I knew student pharmacists from across the country who had made it a priority to be involved in their state pharmacy associations as well as nationally through APhA-ASP. At Mercer and many other schools in the country, membership in APhA-ASP comes with automatic membership in your state pharmacy association. Throughout the first semester of pharmacy school, I had become extremely involved in APhA-ASP, but had yet to see many opportunities to do the same in GPhA, so the GPhA Student Leadership Board was born.
The exact organization of the student leadership board (more affectionately known as the SLB) was created based on models from nearby states and other national organizations with strong student involvement like NCPA. We chose to make it a priority to have all four colleges of pharmacies in Georgia intimately involved, each with 4 representatives on the SLB. We further split the board into junior and senior members, junior members who are P2s and senior members who are P3s. Members serve a 2 year term, first as a junior member, then senior. We also will appoint one P1 liaison from each school. Currently, Alex and I serve as the executive directors of the board, though after we graduate we will be moving the board to a President/President-Elect format of leadership.
Students on the SLB serve to help coordinate and encourage student attendance at events such as Day at the Dome, Fall and Spring Region briefings, and the Annual Convention. This year at the convention, for the first time thanks to the SLB and hard work of GPhA staff, we had student specific programming and “Student Central” meeting place. We also saw a 112% increase in student attendance. The SLB also works together with the various committees and academies that represent various practice areas and special interests in pharmacy to accomplish projects and encourage membership growth. We also have made it a priority to create a GPhA social media presence that targets and features students and their accomplishments.
I am so thankful for the encouragement and feedback we have received from leaders within GPhA and across the country. I am so thrilled to be able to offer students an inside look at the advocacy GPhA is doing on behalf of pharmacists and future pharmacists across the state, and spark the same passion for the profession that I have found through my involvement.
If you have any questions or would like to learn more about the GPhA student leadership board and the work that GPhA does, please contact me!
